Insurers pay out $1.13B for Joplin tornado damage

Residents drive through the streets as more storm clouds gather on May 23, 2011 in Joplin, Missouri.(Photo by Julie Denesha/Getty Images)

Copyright Getty Images

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - Insurers have spent about $1.13 billion in claims tied to the Joplin tornado and payouts continue to grow.

The head of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration says total insured losses could be $1.8 billion to $1.9 billion.

John Huff called the tornado the "largest insurance event in Missouri history."

The Joplin Globe reported that the numbers don't reflect uninsured losses or properties that are underinsured. Officials have estimated that up to 40 percent of the residential dwellings in some neighborhoods in the tornado-damage zone lacked insurance or were underinsured.